It is common for gaming laws to limit and restrict the numbers of sporting game a sportsman may bag or obtain under a particular sporting game license. The sportsman is responsible for maintaining the number or quantity of sporting game he has bagged or caught during a particular outing, and if the sportsman exceeds the catch limit, the sportsman maybe liable for violation of gaming laws. Keeping track of the number of game caught is not a problem when larger game is involved. However, it does become a problem for smaller game, such as fish, in which the typical laws, as they apply to fishing, allow a fisherman to catch and retain a number of fish until the fishing outing is completed.
Especially with game such as fish, it is a problem to count the number of fish because of their very nature of them being slippery. When a fish is caught, a fisherman's hands are typically occupied with a fishing rod and reel in the one hand and the fish in the other. Therefore, a number of game counting receptacles have been placed on the market in order to make it easy for the fisherman to count the game.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,941,016 to William J. Welcher provides a game counting receptacle having an opening therein where a door is connected to the receptacle for movement between a closed position, wherein the door provides closure of the opening, and open position, wherein a passage way is formed through the opening and into the receptacle. The door is bias toward the closed position and operatively connected to a counter where in movement of the door from the closed position to the open position indexes the counter to provide a running count of the fish placed in the receptacle. While the Welcher receptacle works well enough, its relatively complicated construction and cost of manufacture have not permitted it to achieve wide spread acceptance among fisherman.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,388,547 discloses a fish score card for counting the number of fish caught during a fishing trip. Each time a fish is caught the fisherman places a peg in the appropriate hole of the appropriate row and column of the score card.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,489,255 shows a fishing creel having a spring loaded hinged door.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,758,006 discloses an electronic fishing information recording and storage device which attaches to a fishing rod and reel assembly. For each fish caught, the device is capable of recording relevant information about the type of fish. U.S. Pat. No. 6,765,155 discloses a fish measuring and weighing device.
For the reasons stated above, none of the prior art devices provide a satisfactory solution for counting fish as they are caught.